1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable carrier attached to a vehicle for securing various articles such as bicycles, skis, wheelchairs and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to the adjustable carrier capable of being slowly rotated downward toward the ground in order to facilitate loading and unloading of the articles and to gain access to a rear entry of the vehicle.
2. Background of the Field
It is commonly known that carriers, particularly bicycle racks, have been designed to be secured in a detachable manner to a conventional hitch receiver mounted on the vehicle. Such carriers typically employ a rectangular shaped tube that is inserted into a rectangular trailer hitch receiver mounted to the vehicle. One such conventional bicycle rack is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,414 to Deguevara. This bicycle rack employs a L-shaped clamp member that has a telescopic vertical portion, which is received within a tube or slide member secured to the back of a vertical column of the rack. The bicycles are disposed on a hook-like portion and secured on the L-shaped clamp member. However, this type of bicycle rack affords many disadvantages, among which is that it was cumbersome to use because it had no pivoting mechanism to facilitate easy loading and unloading of the bicycles as well as easy access to the vehicle. Another disadvantage is that it is unstable during transport and provides little security since it is quite easy to bend the hook-like portion.
Another conventional bicycle rack is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,195, issued to Fullhart et al. (hereinafter referred to as the "'195 patent"). This bicycle rack discloses a base assembly, a vertical support and a crossbar assembly. The vertical support is pivotally connected to the base assembly through a first pull-pin locking mechanism which, when removed, allows the vertical support to freely rotate downward about a ninety-degree angle. Similarly, the crossbar assembly is pivotally connected to the vertical support through a second pull pin locking mechanism. A pair of hook rods extends outward from the outer ends of the crossbar assembly for supporting either one or two bicycles. Each of these hook rods has a threaded end which is inserted through a corresponding aperture at the outer ends of the crossbar and are held in place through nuts. This conventional rack has several disadvantages of which the present invention has overcome.
A first disadvantage is related to the manner in which the bicycles are supported. In the '195 patent, the bicycles are supported by the pair of hook rods coupled to the assembly through a conventional nut/bolt locking mechanism. During normal transportation, these hook rods tend to become bent in a downward sloping direction due to forces being exerted thereon; namely, a gravitational force associated with the weight of the bicycles in combination with additional forces caused by oscillation of the bicycles as the vehicle experiences common bumps and indentations during transport. In rough terrain, the additional forces exerted on the pair of hook rods could substantially bend the hook rods, and possibly in some cases, cause the hook rods to break, resulting in damage to the bicycles or worse yet, in injury to passing motorists and pedestrians.
Another disadvantage associated with the bicycle rack illustrated in the '195 patent is that no safety mechanism is employed to protect persons or property from harm in the event that the first pull-pin becomes inadvertently dislodged. For example, a curious child may easily remove the pull-pin causing the vertical support, in combination with one or two bicycles, to come crashing downward injuring the child. It is evident that there existed no mechanism which applies force directly against the supporting member in order allow such supporting member to be slowly rotated downward at an approximately 90.degree. to its normal upright position or, better yet to be positioned at an angle less than 90.degree. from the upright position for easier removal of the bicycles.
A further disadvantage is that the conventional bicycle rack has no security features to prevent theft of the bicycles while mounted on the conventional bicycle rack. Anyone could quickly remove the second pull-pin holding a clamping arm in place, raise the clamping arm and remove the bicycles in a few moments. Hence, it would be desirous to create a carrier which eliminates the above disadvantages.